All NYC public school cafeterias will offer plant-based options

There's been much talk of veganism going mainstream of late. Given the astounding environmental impact of the meat and dairy industry, a drop in demand for animal-based foods would bring welcome respite for our environment. But I'm a well-known skeptic of the power of personal lifestyle change alone. It's not that individual choices don't matter; it's just that they primarily matter as a point of leverage for broader, systemic shifts.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, who recently went vegan and reversed his type 2 diabetes, backs the new menu wholeheartedly. “It is particularly exciting to learn that this is a youth-driven initiative,” Adams told VegNews. Seems like vegan school lunches are taking off! Seven schools within the Los Angeles school district launched a vegan pilot program earlier this year.

If restaurants and institutions can learn to market these products to everyone—not just the hardcore vegans—we can expect to see the environmental and health benefits of more plant-based eating really begin to pick up speed.